Faith Works 12-18-21

Faith Works 12-18-21

Jeff Gill

A cup of sugar, a story for the season

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[In the Saturdays of December, a story is being told on the installment plan; this is part three of four.]

Melanie had never met Mrs. Kern at 648, but now she was expecting her.

Mrs. Morley, Melanie's next-door neighbor, she knew . . . well, as she walked down the street it occurred to her she didn't really know Mrs. Morley all that well. As a mother of two boys, she'd moved in a few years ago to this quiet residential street, looking for a good peaceful place to bring them up, but between her job and school and sports and then COVID, she'd really hardly met anyone in her neighborhood, and only knew Mrs. Morley because of her having taken the initiative to say hello, offer a hand at times, to simply smile and wave. That's why she'd found the nerve to walk over looking for a cup of sugar to finish a cookie recipe she'd started.

But those pictures on the piano? How long had her husband been gone, and where did her children live now, grown? Melanie realized she didn't know. Even so, the welcome that night included a bag of cookie toppings in one hand and a call to a neighbor Mrs. Morley did know promised to fill the measuring cup in her other hand.

Shifting the cup handle along with the dangling bag, she knocked at 648, and immediately the door inside the storm door swung in, steam clouding the glass. Then the outer door swung open, and a voice inside saying "come in, come in!"

Entering, Melanie saw a short, round little woman in a wide and long apron, white hair in a bun on the back of her head, who said as the storm door closed "You are just in the nick of time, I have cookies coming out, more going in, and all my supplies out on the counter! Follow me."

Mrs. Kern bustled through the living room into a brightly lit kitchen, tidy underneath but busy with bowls and trays and cookie sheets and wire racks everywhere.

"Now, dear," she went on, "you needed a cup of sugar, Martha said?" Melanie nodded, looking around at what seemed to be a veritable cookie factory. Then feeling rude, she added "yes, that's right, and you're so kind to offer to help."

"Oh, my, dear, cookies are my life. I was a school cook for years, and especially at Christmas, I just have to have a big project to make me feel at home in the season. So here…"

The older lady was holding out a bag, a full sack of five pounds of sugar. Melanie flinched, and said "oh, but I just need a cup!"

"Nonsense, dear," replied Mrs. Kern. "What about your next batch? Don't worry, I have plenty more in the pantry; it's easier for me to give you that little bagful than to parcel out a cup, easier for you to carry home. And as you go . . ."

Melanie tucked the bag under one arm, and stuck the measuring cup back into her coat pocket, the bag of sprinkles into the other one. Looking up, she saw Mrs. Kern holding three boxes, bright with ribbon and stickers, out to her.

"If you would be so kind, I wanted to get a box of fresh cookies to Mrs. Morley, and also to old Mrs. Schaeffer at 642, if you wouldn't mind delivering those with my compliments. She may take a bit to get to the door, so be patient. And that third box is for you and your boys; if you'll send one of them over after school tomorrow, I'll have another boxful for you, but these over here are spoken for first thing in the morning. But one box worth won't be enough for two growing boys, not by half! I'm doing chocolate butterscotch chip cookies tomorrow, those in the box are just chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin."

"Mrs. Kern," Melanie said taking the stack of boxes, "I just don't know what to say, but thank you . . ."

"Oh, no, dear, thank you for giving me a chance to help. It makes me happy to see a young woman in the neighborhood, and a baker, too! Anything you run out of, just come on by and ask. My boys keep me supplied: they say it keeps me off the streets."

And so Melanie found herself walking down to 642 with a stack of cookie boxes in her arms.

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's been checking his pantry supplies as this story unfolds. Let him know what you are baking this Christmas at knapsack77@gmail.com or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.